Improved device for attaching  traces to vehicles



J. C. HAM; Whifiletree Hook. No. 93,532.

Patented Aug. 10, 1869.

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IVORY C..HAM, or CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 93,532, dated August 10, 1869.

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'1he Schedule referred to in. these Letters Patent and making part ofthe same.

'To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, IVQRY O. HAM, ofGharlestown, in the county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts,have invented an Improved Device for Attaching Traces to Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying; drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improveddevice.

Figure 2 is a section through the centre of the same, when secured tothe shaft-bar? of a vehicle.

Serious accidents are frequently occasioned by the breaking of thewhifiietree of a vehicle, or the bolt by which it is attached thereto,the whiffletree being thus allowed to come in contact with and frightenthe horse.

My invention has forits object to avoid this danger, and to dispenseentirely with the whifiletree, and consists in securing the hooks orstarts, to which the traces are attached, to the shaft-bar of thevehicle, the hooks being provided with spn'ngs, and so constructed as toyield, and thereby allow' of the same play or movement of the traces aswhen a whiflletree is employed.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention,I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings- A is a circi'rlar bolt, which passes through ahole of corresponding size in the shaft-bar B.

The inner end of this bolt is provided with a screwthread, a, whichprojects through the hole beyond the inside of the bar, to receive anut, O, which is turned over the screw-thread a sufiiciently to draw ashoulder, 1), near the outer end of the bolt, snugly up against theoutside of the Shaft-bar.

The bolt A, from the shoulder I) to its outer end, is of a taperingform, as shown. 7

The bolt A is made hollow, for the reception of a -wrought-iron bar, D,which is surrounded by a spiral spring, 0, one end of which restsagainst a shoulder, (l,

. in the interior of the bolt, the otherend being confined by a nut, e,screwed over the end of the bar D, the diameter of the nut being atrifle less than that of the interior of the bolt.

The outer end of the bar D extends beyond the end of the bolt A, and isbent at right angles, and provided with a cross-piece, thus forming a T-shaped hook or button, 71, to which the end of the trace is attached.

From the foregoing construction, it will readily be perceived that the'bar D is free to yield, or be drawn out by the trace against theresistance of the spring 0, which returns it to its original positionwhen released, and the traces are thus allowed the same longitudinalplay or movement which they would have it attached to' the erids of anordinary whifiletree.

It will be seen, that as the outer end of the nut O is closed, itwill,when in place,,as represented in fig;

2, serve as a cap, to exclude the dirt and moisture from the interior ofthe bolt A, and thus protect the spring 0 from rust.

Among the advantages resulting from my improved method of attachingtraces to vehicles may be enu-v Inerated the following:

The attachment is more secure, and less liable to break than awhiffietree, while, if such event should happen, there would be nothingto strike the horses heels, and thereby frighten him.

Furthermore, it broken, my improved device may be replaced in a fewminutes, at a trifling cost, whereas the replacing of a brokenwhiffletree necessitates considerable expense and loss of time.

Again, the bar I) is prevented, by the springc, from rattling, while, atthe same time, there is no liability of its becoming loose, and gettingout of place, which is sometimes the case with hooks or buttons attachedto the ends of whifiietrees. w v

I am aware thatthe application of I. M. Andrews,

rejected, and withdrawn August 20, 1855, as well as.

the rejected application of John Atkinson, shows a spiral springattached to the shafts, and in the rear of the cross-bar, the springbeing secured within a cylinder, and operated upon by a hooked barpassing through the cross-bar. I therefore do not claim, broadly, theuse of the spiral spring and bar; nor do I claim what is shown in theapplications referred to; but

VVhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The hollow bolt A, with its shoulders I) b and its not 0, in combinationwith the bar D, provided with a T- shaped hook, it, and the spring 0,when the same are constructed and arranged, in'reference to each other,substantially as and for the purpose described.

IVORY O. HAM.

Witnesses:

P. E. TESCHEMACHER, W. J CAMBRIDGE.

